Straight bar knitting machines



Sept. 3, 1968 5 WOODCOCK ET AL 3,399,550

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES 4 Sheets Sheet 1 Filed April 19, 1965 FIG 2 p 1968 s. s. WOODCOCK ET AL 3,399,550

. STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 19. 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 3, 1968 5 WOODCOCK ET AL 3,399,550

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 19, 1965 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 3, 1968 5 WOODCOCK ET AL 3,399,550

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES Filed April 19, 1965 4 Sheets-Shet 4,

M 5 DA 125m O \22 b FlG.6. "i @126 g, *0 1 H2 UUDUU v 7 3 s I I 27 2b :9 f a 'L 1 f 25 23 I20 40 I H8 (27 w 129 o W I28 0 United States Patent C) ice 3,399,550 STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINES George Sydney Woodcock, Broomland, Stirches Road;

Herbert Edward Woodcock, Ravello, Wilton Hill;

Francis Simpson, 8 Overhall Crescent, Wilton Dean;

and William Clayton, 14 Moat Crescent, all of Hawick,

Scotland Filed Apr. 19, 1965, Ser. No. 449,001 Claims. (Cl. 665) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A straight bar knitting machine having simultaneously and individually operable needles and programme card controlled selvedge fashioning and patterning mechanism, and wherein the patterning mechanism comprises a pattern drum under programme card control and operable on sliders for patterning by needle selection, and the selvedge fashioning mechanism comprises adjustable selvedge stop means under programme card control and selvedge needles, with cam operated means for moving the blade elements into and out of operative position, and motion transmitting means adapted to maintain the connection between the blade elements and the cam operated means and to connect the blade elements to the programme card controlled adjustable selvedge stop means.

This invention is for improvements in or relating to straight bar knitting machines of the type in which the bearded needles although operable in a row simultaneously for knitting are frictionally mounted thereby enabling any of the needles to be held in lowered position while others of the needles are operated in unison for knitting. The invention primarily concerns the arrangement disclosed in our US. Patent No. 3,248,901, which provides means for producing float patterned fabric by the use of a needle holding down pattern mechanism which is operable, through sliders, to hold selected needles down whereby they are prevented from being operated to knit, while others of the needles are operated to knit. Each knitting section of this machine is provided with a plurality of thread carriers for yarns of diiferent colours so that the fabric can be colour patterned.

It is known that, for satisfactory selvedging, the relationship between an operative thread carrier and the selvedge needles is somewhat critical, but in the instance of using a plurality of thread carriers in a group, each is in a dilferent position such that, although the critical requirement may be satisfied for one or more of the carriers, at least at one end of the carrier traverse, it can happen that one or more other carriers of the group do not satisfy the critical requirement and faulty selvedging can be caused by yarn between a thread carrier and a selvedge needle being taken by needles outwardly adjacent to the selvedge needle.

An object of the invention is to provide the machine with means for avoiding this cause of faulty selvedging.

The invention provides a multicarrier machine of the type referred to having needle control elements which are adjustably displaceable with the machines selvedge stops to disposed portions of the elements opposite needles outwardly adjacent to the selvedge needles, and means for advancing and retracting said elements into and out of 3,399,550 Patented Sept. 3, 1968 operative position overlying said outwardly adjacent needles in their lowered position to hold them down clear of yarn between any of the thread carrier and the selvedge needles. Conveniently said portions of the elements are of blade form for holding down a plurality of needles outwardly adjacent to the selvedge needles. Conveniently also said blade portions are disposed in a horizontal plane spaced below the sinkers, abutments are provided at the beard side of the needles and have guide faces immediately above said horizontal plane, and the advance of said portions of the elements is from a position at the non-beard side of the needles to a position immediately underneath said abutment to maintain said portions in said plane.

The elements may project from a slide mounted in a slideway bracket and having connected to it cam operated means for its sliding movement to advance and retract the elements, and the slideway bracket being mounted on laterally extending guide rails and connected to the selvedge stops for lateral displacement therewith.

The foregoing and other features of the invention set out in the appended claims are incorporated in the construction which is hereinafter described as a specific embodiment with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic front view of part of a Cottons patent straight bar knitting machine of the type referred to showing selvedge needle and yarn control means according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a cross section of machine parts in the region of said means showing control mechanism therefor.

FIGURE 3 is a broken perspective view of some of the parts of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a general cross section of the machine showing said control means and colour patterning means.

FIGURE 5 is a detail sectional view of control mechanism.

FIGURE 6 is a showing of programme control means.

Referring to FIGURE 1 a Cottons patent straight bar knitting machine having simultaneously and individually operable needles, substantially as disclosed in the afore said patent, is represented by needles 1, sinkers 2, sinker bar 3, thread carriers TC, and needle control sliders 8 to be hereinafter more fully referred to.

There may be any suitable number of thread carriers threaded up with different coloured yarns for the colour patterning (in a manner to be hereinafter more fully referred to) and in the illustrated example these are six of the carriers Tl-T6, as shown in FIGURE 2.

The carriers are disposed in a group, and whereas the carriers such as T1, T2 shown in broken lines in FIG- URE l are in required critical relationship with the selvedge needles 1a, 1011 which leads to satisfactory selvedging with these carriers, the carriers such as T1, T2 shown in full lines in FIGURE 1 are at such a distance from the selvedge needles that the necessary critical relationship is not maintained for these carriers; the result heretofore has been faulty selvedging with these latter carriers, since their yarn tends to be taken up by needles outwardly of the selvedge needles.

To avoid the faulty selvedging there is provided at each end, a horizontally disposed blade portion 4a 4111 of a needle control element such as 4 FIGURES 2, 3 for disposition over needles, such as the three needles 1b, lbl, FIGURE 1, outwardly adjacent to the selvedge needles 1a, 1:11, to hold the needles 1b, 1b1 down clear of yarn such as Y, Ya, Y1, Ya1 between any of the thread carriers and the selvedge needles at either end.

More specifically each control element 4 is secured to a slide 5, FIGURES 2, 3, which is mounted in a slideway bracket 6 and has connected to it a cam operated arm 7 for moving the slide to advance and retract the element 4 between an inoperative position where its blade portion 4a, 4a1 is at the non-beard side of the needles 1 to an operative position, while the needles 1 are lowered, whereat it is disposed in a horizontal plane overlying the lowered needles 1b, lbl, FIGURES 1 and 3, which are outwardly adjacent to the selvedge needles 1a, lal.

Referring to FIGURE 3, since the movement of the arms such as 7 is arcuate, and that of the slides 5 linear, the slides 5 have vertical slots such as 5a in which rides a rod 7a carried by the arms such as 7.

Conveniently the control elements 4 have associated with them blade elements 10, FIGURE 1, which have under-chamfered ends such as 10o, FIGURE 3, and have like movements to those of the control elements 4. These blade elements although horizontally disposed are on edge in a vertical plane and :in their advance they overlie the carrier yarns such as Y, Ya, Y1 and Ya1 for the purpose of ensuring that the selvedge loops are held down while the needles rise. This ensures proper formation of selvedge loops on the selvedge needles. For the required movements of these elements 10 they are secured to the slide bars such as 5, FIGURES 2, 3 by brackets 105 as shown.

Since the elements 4 and 10 are required to be effective at the selvedges, and the positions of the selvedges varies in narrowing and widening the fabric, the elements 4 and 10 are arranged to be adjustably moved inwards and outwards in synchronism with the adjustment of the usual selvedge stops. These usual selvedge stops are represented by a usual screw nut 11, FIGURES 4 and 5, on a usual adjustable lead screw 12, and having a usual releasable connection 13 to a thread carrier bar 14 of which there are five more, 14a to 14c, FIGURE 2, mounting the thread carriers T1 to T6. The adjustable lead screw 12, FIGURES 4, 5, is racked round in required directions and at required times for fashioning in the usual manner by oppositely toothed ratchet wheels such as 15 on the screw and pawls 16, 17 which are operable through a link connection 18 to a cam follower lever 118 having a cam follower 119 engaging a cam 120 on the machines main cam shaft 40; The cam follower 119 is under control of a fork shifting lever 127 connected by shaft 128 to cam 129 and control rod 130 in known con trol means.

Conveniently the bluff control comprises bluff plates 121, 122 on which the pawls 16, 17 ride. The bluff plates 121, 122, are carried by levers 1-23, 124. A lever 123 is interconnected by pin and slot means 125 to a lever 124a. The arm 12511 of lever 124 is connected by link 12% to a solenoid 126, and the arm 124a is similarly connected to a solenoid. These solenoids are under control of any suitable form of switch control means such as a punched card or other programme carrier and switch reader means, and it will be understood that when the solenoids are selectively operated they selectively move the levers and plates 121, 122 to raise and lower the pawls 16, 17 onto and off the ratchet wheels such as 15 in selective manner. For imparting these adjusting motions to the elements 4, 10, the lead screw 12 is connected by the shown drive transmitting chain 112 to a spindle 113 having a bevel wheel 114 meshing with a bevel wheel 19 on a spindle 20, and also on the spindle 20 is a bevel wheel 21 meshing with a bevel wheel 22 on an adjustable screw 23. This screw 23 extends through a screw nut 24 which is slidably mounted on a guide rod 25, and the screw nut 24 is also secured by means 28 to two rods 26, 27 which are secured to the slideway blocks such as 6, FIGURE 3. Thus turning of the spindle 20 by selvedge stop adjustments effects like adjustments to the elements 4 and 10.

4 The mechanism this far described is shown in the general machine view, FIGURE 4, the slideway block 6 being mounted over the usual template rail 29. Further to this the machine is substantially as disclosed in said US.

Patent No. 3,248,901 and briefly has the usual mechanisms for operating the thread carriers and knocking over bits KO. The sinkers 2 are operated by the usual mechanism including the slurcock S, jacks J, and catch bar CB, the latter being connected by arm 30 to a cam follower lever 31 having a cam follower 32 engaging a cam 33 on the machines main cam shaft 40. The needles 1 are operated by usual raising and lowering mechanism comprising cam follower lever 37 connected to the needle bar NB and having a cam follower 38 engaging a cam 39 on the main cam shaft 40, and by presser mechanism comprising a link 41 connecting an arm 42, depending from the needle bar NB, to a cam follower lever 43 having a cam follower 44 engaging a cam 45 on the shaft 40.

The needles 1, in addition to being movable in unison with the needle bar NB by said cam operating mechanisms, are slidably mounted in the needle bar NE in the known manner frictionally in grooves in the needle bar NB to allow relative slidable movement between each needle and the needle bar NB. The needles 1 have lower parts LB which are engageable with a lower stop bar 46.

The machine as thus far described is capable of producing plain, i.e., non-rib fabric with yarn changes which may be colour yarn changes in known manner.

The machine is adapted for colour patterning by means equivalent to those disclosed in said patent to which reference is directed for full details. These means briefly comprising the aforesaid sliders 8 and a pattern drum 48. Considering the two colour pattern of FIGURE 3 for example, pattern bits such as shown diagrammatically at 48a, 48b on the drum 48 are set out as required for the pattern with only one other condition that a row of spaced pattern bits for one selection of needles must be followed by a complementary row of the remaining pattern bits of the full complement thereof for any one row, so that by advancing different selections of sliders in different courses to hold down different selections of needles out of knitting operation, each full course of loops is made up of spaced loops of one colour yarn knitted by one needle motion and intervening loops of another colour yarn knitted by another needle motion. This arrangement is variable for three or more colour patterns by the pattern bits being appropriately prearranged.

For required control of the pattern drum it has a stepby-step rotation by suitable racking means. In the present example the racking means comprises a rack wheel 47 supported by a bracket 47a on rails 49, 50 and a pawl 51 for engaging the rack wheel 47, and a rack wheel 52 behind the rack wheel 47 and on the same bracket 47a, and a pawl 53 for engaging the rack wheel 52.

The racking motion is transmitted from the rack wheels 47, 52 by a sprocket wheel 54 on the rack wheel axle 55, a roller chain 56 on the Wheel 54 and also on a sprocket Wheel 57 supported by the bracket 58 on a rail 85. On the sprocket wheel axle 59 is a bevel gear 60 meshing with a bevel gear 61 on a spindle 62 which is supported by the bracket 58. On the spindle 62 there is also a bevel gear 63 meshing with a bevel gear 64 on the pattern drum axle 65 which is supported by bracket 66 on the rail 85. The pawls 51, 53 are carried by arms 67, 167 which are pivoted on the rack wheel axle 55, and those arms 67, 167 are connected by links 68, 168, to a slide block 69 which is slidable in a slot 70 in a bracket 71; the block 69 is connected by a link 72 to an arm 73 on a spindle 74, and on the spindle 74, which is supported by a bracket 75, there is an arm 76 which is connected by a link 77, to a cam follower lever 78 on a pivot 79 and having a cam follower 80 engaging a cam 81 on the shaft 40. It will thus be seen that the pattern drum 48 can be racked in either direction, and the direction is under control of blufiing means to be hereinafter described.

The pattern drum 48 is also displaceable bodily to eflfect advances of the sliders 8. For this purpose one arm 82 of a toggle device is connected to the pattern drum axle 65 and the other arm 83 of the toggle is supported by a bracket 84 on the rail 85. The centre pin 86 of the toggle is connected by a link 87 to an arm 88 which is supported by a bracket 89 on the rail 85, and there is a link 90 connecting between the arm 88, and a cam follower lever 91, which is supported by a bracket 92 on the rail 50 and has a cam follower 93 engaging a cam 94 on the shaft 40.

The pattern drum axle 65' is mounted in a slide *block which is slidable in a fork end of the aforesaid bracket 66. It will thus be seen that the cam 94 effects the bodily movement of the pattern drum.

The sliders 8 are returned, after being advanced by the pattern drum 48, by a "bar 97 which engages behind butts 80 on the sliders 8 and is carried by arm 98 movable with the pattern drum 48 by cam operated lever means 48a.

The aforesaid blufiing means for the' pawls 51, 53 conveniently consists of arcuate arms 51a, 53a, having bluff plates 51b, 53b and pivoted at 530 to the bracket 47a. The bluff plates 51b, 53b are adapted to be disposed in and out of the path of tail ends 51d, 53d of the pawls, and for this purpose the arms 51a, 53a are connected by links 51c, 53c to solenoids 51f, 53f respectively. The solenoids are operable as and when required 'by any suitable form of switch control means such as a punched card or other programme carrier and switch reader means, it only being necessary for punched holes or the like to be provided at locations where they will provide for operation of either the pawl 51 or the pawl 53 to rack the pattern drum 48 in either required direction and at any time required.

A suitable programme carrier and reader means is represented in FIGURE 6 at PC and SRM and includes dropper arms such as DA having bits such as B1 for cooperating with holes in the card, and electric microswitches MS operated by the droppers, the card being racked on by racking means RM in known manner.

The aforesaid arms such as 7, FIGURE 4, for operating the elements 4 and are pivoted on a rod 98' on which is an arm 99 connected by a link 100 to a cam follower lever 101 having a cam follower 102 engaging a cam 103 on the shaft 40.

In operation of the machine it operates as disclosed in said patent to produce colour or float pattern fabric by under control of the sliders and known thread carrier changes and each time following a draw that a thread carrier arrives at a selvedge, the cam 103 operates to advance the elements 4 and 10 to ensure satisfactory selvedging in the manner hereinbefore referred to.

It is also to be noted that if desired the advanced position of the blade portions 4a, 4a1 of the needle control elements 4 may be under the needle holding down portions of the sliders 8 to give support for the blade portions in holding their associated needles down.

What we claim is:

1. A straight bar knitting machine in combination with simultaneously and individually operable needles and a plurality of patterning thread carriers, selvedge fashioning mechanism including adjustable selvedge stop means, patterning means separate from said selvedge fashioning means and comprising pattern controlled sliders selectively operable on said needles for patterning therewith, and selvedge control means separate from said patterning means and comprising spaced control elements having needle control blade portions disposed in a horizontal plane, cam operated means connected to said control elements for moving them into and out of operative position, motion transmitting means connecting said control elements to said adjustable selvedge stop means while maintaining said cam operated means connected to said control elements, and said cam operated means and said motion transmitting means are adapted for disposing said horizontal blade portions over lowered needles adjacently outwards of the selvedge needles respectively for holding down said needles.

2. In a straight bar knitting machine having simultaneously and individually operable needles, a plurality of patterning thread carriers and selvedge fashioning mechanism including adjustable selvedge stop means, the combination of patterning mechanism separate from said selvedge fashioning mechanism and comprising pattern controlled sliders selectively operable on the needles for patterning therewith, selvedge control mechanism separate from said patterning mechanism and comprising spaced blade elements disposed for holding down selvedge yarn and needles adjacently outside opposite side selvedge needles respectively, slide means to which said blade elements are connected cam operated means connected to said slide means for moving said slide means and said blade elements forwardly and rearwardly to and from operative and inoperative positions, rod and slot connections between said cam operated means and said slide means permitting lateral displacements of said slide means and said blade elements while remaining under control of said cam operated means, slideway means mounting said slide means, guide rod means mounting said slideway means, adjustable lead screw means connected to said guide rod means, and drive transmitting means connecting said lead screw means to said adjustable selvedge stop means.

3. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein said control elements have connected to them at the latters inner sides yarn control blade portions in vertical planes and having under-chamfered free ends for deflecting yarn to the undersides thereof.

4. A straight bar knitting machine having in combina tion with simultaneously individually operable needles, a plurality of patterning thread carriers, selvedge fashioning mechanism including adjustable selvedge stop means, patterning mechanism separate from said selvedge fashioning mechanism and comprising pattern controlled sliders having downwardly projecting forward free ends and selectively operable on said needles to hold selected needles down for patterning therewith, and selvedge control means separate from said patterning means and comprising spaced control elements disposed for controlling opposite side selvedging respectively and having needle control blade portions disposed in a horizontal plane and yarn control blade portions connected to said needle control blade portions at the latters inner sides and having underchamfered free ends, motion transmit-ting means connecting said control elements to said adjustable selvedge stop means for said control elements to follow adjustment of the selvedges, and cam operated means connected to said control elements for moving them while maintaining their connection to said adjustable stop means, from inoperative positions to operative position in which said needle control blade portions are disposed immediately under said downwardly projecting free ends of said sliders to hold down needles adjacently outwards of the selvedge needles and in which said yarn control blade portions engage over the selvedge yarns to hold down these yarns.

5. A straight bar knitting machine having in combination with simultaneously and individually operable needles and a plurality of thread carriers, electric programme carrier and reader controlled patterning means operable on patterning sliders to selectively control needles for patterning therewith, selvedge fashioning control mechanism separate from said patterning means and including adjustable selvedge stop means, and selvedge control means comprising spaced control elements disposed for controlling needles adjacently outside opposite side selvedge needles respectively, cam operated means connected to said control elements for moving them into and out of operative position, motion transmitting means connecting said control elements to said selvedge stop means while maintaining said cam operated connection to said control elements, and electric programme carrier and reader 7 8 means adapted for controlling said selvedge stop means 3,220,220 11/1965 Imon 6676 and consequently said control elements for controlling 3,248,901 5/1966 Woodcock et a]. 665 the selvedging separate from the pattern control. 3,262,287 7/ 1966 Woodcock et .al. 6690 References Cited 5 FOREIGN F T UNITED STATES PATENTS 12,738 1897 Great Bntam.

2,430882 11/ 1947 Ludwig 6689 WM. CARTER REYNOLDS, Primary Examiner.

2,432,108 12/1947 Zesch 6689 

